It Was Always You
by funstt
Summary: It's the beginning of Senior Year for Dawn and her best friend Drew, the nobodies of the school. That is, until now. Life as they know it is about to change. Will Dawn finally get her knight in shining purple armour? Or will she be too scared to fight for what she wants? Ikarishipping, Contestshipping, Pokeshipping, Oldrivalshipping
1. Chapter 1

**_Authors Note: So I am back with a high school fic. There will be some music here and there so keep in mind that I will change some lyrics to match the story. Any song titles will be listed at the end of the chapter. I will try to update as soon as possible but no promises on a weekly basis, this first chapter is to give you guys a bit of a preview so it might take me a little while to update at first. Enjoy. _**

"Dawn!"

Hearing her name being called, she turned to see her best friend walking towards her with a flick of his bright green hair.

"Hi Drew, long time no see!" She joked.

"I saw you yesterday," Drew said with a smirk.

"I know, it just feels like its been forever. Looking forward to our first day of senior year?" She said, feigning enthusiasm.

Drew rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, I can't wait."

Dawn brushed her long blue hair with her fingers and she smiled. They had finally made it to senior year. It had always seemed like high school was an uphill battle for them and they were finally here. Only one more year until she could graduate and never have to go back.

It had always been the two of them. Ever since kindergarten, they had been the best of friends, with no one else ever bothering to give them the time of day. It had all started when Ursula, the horrible yet strangely popular girl in school, had told the other kids that she didn't like Dawn's hair. It spread like the plague and no one wanted to play with her. Except for Drew, he had never cared what the other kids thought. And after one day with a fort made from building blocks, they became friends. It was a bond that had lasted for years. And although they only had each other; it was enough for them.

"I guess I just can't believe that we are finally here. This is finally happening," She admitted as a look of awe crossed her face.

Drew glanced at her, his gaze softening as he let his guard down – something that occurred rarely – and smiled genuinely.

"Yeah, it's about time."

The rest of the walk to their school – Hearthome High – was short and a comfortable silence had washed over them.

As they walked up the steps of the beautiful stone building, Dawn spoke up, "I really hope we are in home room together this year. Last year sucked without you."

Drew noticed the waver in her voice and stopped in front of her, placing both hands reassuringly on her shoulders, "Dawn, this year I am positive we will be put together for at least a few classes. Okay?"

She nodded but her mind wasn't put to rest. She wasn't sure if she could take another year without having him in at least a few classes. She followed, letting him lead her to the admin office to get their schedules.

* * *

After pushing through the busy crowd, receiving their schedules and being assigned their lockers, they were finally walking through the corridors to homeroom. "I'm so relieved! We have homeroom, P.E and science together! It's a shame we don't have music together but I'll take three classes, those are good odds," she was raving excitedly about the outcome.

Drew smirked at her; it was so like Dawn to get excited over the most basic of things.

They found two seats to the middle right side of the room, with no one even noticing that either of them had walked in, which was normal for the both of them. They sat down, with Drew pulling out a book to read and Dawn grabbing her sketch pad and drawing the scene before her, some chairs, a desk and a few students.

Dawn was in her own little world when drawing. It was one of her favourite things to do because it just made her feel so relaxed and at ease. She loved that she could express herself and her feelings through art and it always made her feel better when she was feeling sad.

While she was shading in the detailing of the chair in front of her, she furrowed her brow as she realised the class had all of a sudden got noisier. Frustrated with the loud class, Dawn looked to the front of the room to see what the big deal was.

_There he was_.

Paul Shinji.

Dawn stared. He had glorious purple hair that went to his shoulders that adorned a black leather jacket and simple grey t-shirt underneath. He wore dark skinny jeans and a black pair of vans that looked pretty worn out. He was tall, perhaps just over 6ft 2, with tanned skin and muscles that reflected his athleticism.

All of these things were not even close to being awarded his best quality. No, his best feature was his dark, mysterious onyx eyes. Dawn had never seen them up close, but she was sure that it would be easy to get lost in them. They seemed to stare piercingly wherever they gazed. Oh how she loved his eyes.

She sighed dreamily as she thought back to the day he had played her hero. The day that she had basically fallen in love with him.

_It was year four, when a kid named Arthur, who had always made comments about Dawn's navy hair and likened her to a blueberry, cornered her one day. Drew was almost always with her and had always defended her. This day however, Drew was home, sick from school and Arthur had pushed Dawn's books to the floor and tripped her over, all the while laughing loudly. _

_Dawn had been so upset she couldn't even defend herself. And while Arthur and a few other students laughed at her, something unusual happened. A young boy with purple hair stood between the fallen Dawn and Arthur, telling him that what he was saying was cruel and that if he didn't stop he would take it to the teachers._

_It had turned out that Arthur was bullying a lot of kids and eventually got asked to leave the school._

Drew was always there for her, but he couldn't be with her twenty four hours a day and Paul had stepped up to the plate that fateful day. Ever since then, she had dreamt about being swept off her feet by her knight in shining purple armour. He hadn't talked to her since, and she had always been too nervous to talk to him, not that she was ever able to get close enough to try.

Dawn was resting her chin on her hand, with her elbow leaning on her desk as she stared at him, like she pretty much always did. At least, that's what she did until she felt Drew elbow her in the ribs.

"Dude seriously? You're gonna start drooling soon." Drew teased.

"What? I wasn't drooling I was just…dreaming." She sighed and dropped her head onto the table.

"Dawn, maybe it's time you um…forgot about Shinji over there, because well, let's face it, he doesn't even know you exist."

Dawn groaned, "but maybe things will be different this year?"

Drew gave her a pointed look and Dawn sighed, going back to her drawing until the bell.

* * *

"Third period literature," Dawn mumbled under her breath as she walked down the halls looking for the correct room.

When she found the right door, she entered and found a seat to the side of the room near the window. After organising her pens and her notebook, she was ready to listen to the teacher, who was running late.

After finding the scenery out the window to be rather boring she looked around the room.

Her jaw nearly dropped when she realised that Paul was in her class. Almost as quick as lightning she turned straight to the front of the room, wondering how the hell she was supposed to sit in a class, listen, _and_ pay attention without him distracting her.

She had never been in a class with him before, well besides homeroom. She wondered if he worked hard at school, or if he was just another laid back rich kid who could afford to fail and still go to one of the best Universities.

It wasn't until the end of the lesson that Dawn managed to tune back in from her thoughts of Paul.

"Now class I assume you have all completed your summer reading project?" She raised a brow, offering a knowing look before continuing, "Which is why we will be discussing the general themes and plot of Pride and Prejudice tomorrow in class. I suggest you all bring your notes with you."

The class groaned, clearly none of them had read it. Dawn, however, was a dedicated school student so she had not only read the book, but had read it multiple times and taken detailed notes, as she had done for all over her summer homework for each subject.

She needed to get high marks across the board if she was to get a scholarship into the Cerulean City Arts Programme. The competition was tough because it was the type of school that allowed you to make up your mind later. It had a general focus on school work, as well as a varied arts program with Music, Visual Arts, Dance and Sports.

Dawn wasn't sure what she wanted to do, so she figured something so broad would give her a few extra years to decide. It was especially hard because she had so many interests.

She was very passionate about her artwork, however she didn't think she was good enough to make it. On the other hand she loved to sing with Drew, which again, she wasn't sure if she was good enough to make it. Lastly, if neither option worked out, she could settle on something academic focused. It was the perfect school for her.

The unfortunate side of things was that her and her mother were not very well off, which meant it would be tough for her to afford to go to university at all. That was why she was working so hard at school, ensuring her grades were good enough to try and get a scholarship and gain a bit of extra time to make the important decisions.

She sighed as she walked to fourth period. She had saved every penny from her part time job as a tutor over the last three summers and it still would only be enough to get her through a semester at CCAP. Trying to distract herself she thought about the rest of the day, luckily, she had fourth period with Drew which was science before lunch.

When she arrived at class she beamed and waved excitedly when she saw Drew had saved a seat for her.

Sitting down, she began talking about her last three classes, until she realised he was not even paying attention.

"What? Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nah I was just thinking about how unlucky we are. How is it possible that we managed to get all six of them in one class?"

Dawn looked over, and sure enough, there was Paul sitting with all of his friends. The group was very well liked among the senior class, and it was rare to find any of them without the others somewhere close.

The group consisted of Paul's two best male friends, Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak. They all played on the soccer team together. Ash was known for being really friendly, whereas Gary was seen as extremely self-absorbed. All three of them were sought after by the entire schools girl population but Gary was the only one who really embraced all the attention. Ash was already taken by the girl with the red hair sitting across from him, Misty Waterflower.

She was athletic and a bit of a tomboy, but it was as if she didn't even know how beautiful she was. According to school gossip she had quite the temper, but Dawn had never seen if for herself.

Next to Misty was a girl with long brown hair and green eyes. Her name was Leaf Green and she was one of the smartest girls in school, she was also one of the richest.

May Maple was the last of the six, she always wore a red bandana in her hair and was always nice to everyone. She seemed a little ditsy to Dawn, and she was rarely seen without Paul. It had always been speculated that they were dating but both had denied the rumours. Dawn wasn't sure though, they seemed to get along pretty well from where she was standing. The one thing all of them had in common was that none of them knew Dawn or Drew even existed.

Dawn frowned slightly, turning back to face Drew, "At least they seem nice. I'd prefer them over Ursula and her evil minions Brianna and Melody any day."

"Good point," Drew mused as the teacher walked in to begin their class.

Once the class had finished, the two walked to the cafeteria to quickly fetch lunch and make their way to 'their' tree.

It was a quiet place slightly away from the school where they had always sat to eat lunch.

"Oh don't forget we have that senior mixer thing to promote unity Friday night." Dawn said with fake enthusiasm.

"Unity? Us? We are all about other people." Drew had a very dry humour, which Dawn loved. Not many people picked up on it because he came across as serious but she always knew he was joking.

"I'm glad you brought your guitar today, I was working on some new lyrics that I wanted to try." She passed him the paper from her pocket and proceeded to get her sketchbook out.

As Drew worked out the music and looked over the lyrics, she absentmindedly began to sketch.

"Wow you really are obsessing over Paul today," Drew stated.

After realising Drew was looking over her shoulder at her drawing she sighed, "I just…it would be nice if _just once_ he would notice me."

She was now shading bits of Paul's hair with her grey lead.

"You really are good at that," Drew said as he pointed to her very life-like drawing of Paul in the clothes he was wearing that day.

Dawn gave a weak smile.

"Dawn, if some guy doesn't notice you then you know what? It's his loss. Not yours. One day you're going to meet a guy that does notice you, and thinks you're the only girl in the world for him. Okay?"

He gave her a reassuring smile but decided to start playing the tune to her song to cheer her up a bit.

He played a little bit of it and sang the first line, "I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath."

Dawn looked up and began to sing the next line, "Scared to rock the boat and make a mess."

As they both got a bit more comfortable with the tune Dawn took over singing:

_So I sat quietly, agreed politely  
I guess that I forgot I had a choice  
I let you push me past the breaking point  
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything_

_You held me down, but I got up_  
_Already brushing off the dust_  
_You hear my voice, you hear that sound_  
_Like thunder gonna shake the ground_  
_You held me down, but I got up_  
_Get ready 'cause I've had enough_  
_I see it all, I see it now_

_[Chorus]_  
_I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire_  
_'Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar_  
_Louder, louder than a lion_  
_'Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar_  
_Oh oh oh oh oh oh_  
_Oh oh oh oh oh oh_  
_Oh oh oh oh oh oh_  
_You're gonna hear me roar_

He finished playing and they sat in silence for a bit longer.

"Thanks Drew. That's all I've got so far but I think it sounds pretty good don't you?"

He nodded, "yeah, it's good but we can work on it some more tomorrow because lunch time is over now."

The two gathered their things and walked back into the school to finish off the day.

* * *

That night, Dawn lay on her bed sketching yet another image of Paul as she thought about the school year ahead of her.

"What I would give for this year to be different," She muttered to herself.

Finishing her drawing, she turned off her light and hopped under the covers of her double bed.

After one last thought of Paul, she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_**Song Choices:**_

_Katy Perry - Roar_


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Dawn awoke to a bright stream of sunlight shining in through her blinds. She groaned as she remembered she had to get up and go to school.

After showering and drying her hair, she pulled out some clothes, a white silk shirt, buttoned to the top with a pair of skinny jeans and some small wedge heels. She actually kind of liked that no one noticed her, then she could wear whatever she wanted and not feel like people were judging her. She was pretty into fashion so she generally dressed up most days.

After putting some mascara on she grabbed her sketch pad, shoving it into her bag and texting Drew, telling her to meet her outside his house in 5 minutes.

"Hey, did you get through that bio quiz last night?" Dawn asked as Drew walked towards her from his front door.

"Yeah, killer, how'd you go?"

"Oh, I finished but it took a little while. Senior year is so much harder already."

Drew nodded, "Yeah I hope that's the most homework we have for the week, I just want to play NBA afterschool tonight."

"Oh I want to come over and beat you again!" Her eyes were shining with excitement and she let out a high pitched squeal.

"You didn't beat me, I let you win. There's a difference."

"Pfft sure, you looked very surprised when I won."

"Whatever," Drew said arrogantly, flipping his hair, "But if you really want, come over after school tonight and I'll get Baz to make us dinner."

"Oh definitely. You know I'd never turn down food made by your very own butler."

Dawn had meant to sound playful, but she could tell by the look on Drew's face that it had hit a nerve. He always got awkward around the topic of his home life. Drew's parents were corporate, business-savvy people who often worked internationally, leaving Drew to his own devices, and to be raised by the various maid's and butlers that his parents employed.

Some might say it would be awesome to have whatever you want, whenever you want it, but it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Drew lived a very lonely life, in a great big house that felt so empty. It was something he wouldn't have wished on anyone.

He was an only child, which made matters worse. It wasn't like he could hang out or share the experience with a beloved sibling. He really was entirely alone. When his parents came home on rare occasions he would find himself disappointed over and over, they would take meetings and phone calls at the dinner table, and shoo Drew out of the room every time he tried to spend time with them.

"Yeah, this one makes pretty good food," Drew said dejectedly.

They were entering the school grounds when they heard screaming coming towards them.

"GARY! GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE!"

It all seemed to happen in a split second.

Firstly, a guy with brown hair ran straight past them at lightning speed, he was almost a blur. Unfortunately, what came after seemed to not realise they were there and accidentally tripped over Dawn, and flew head first into Drew.

Dawn had managed to land with her hands behind her on the ground. Groaning, she looked around to see one of the most awkward sights of her life.

Drew was lying face up on the ground, with a girl with brown hair lying directly on top of him. It was as if they were both completely frozen staring at each other. Her mouth was hanging open and Dawn wondered if it was out of embarrassment or surprise. Probably both, she thought.

"You can get off me now." Drew said, smirking at the girl he recognised as May Maple.

Her face contorted into one of disbelief as she began to get off Drew and pick herself up.

"Excuse me? It was an accident. There's no need to be so rude."

"Yeah well maybe you could look where you're going next time April."

She scoffed loudly as her hands reached her hips. "I said it was an accident. And my name is May."

"Yeah, whatever June," Drew smirked once more and flipped his hair after standing up and dusting himself off.

"MAY! M-A-Y!"

"I didn't catch that."

May was standing dangerously close to Drew as she screamed the letters once more in his face. He barely flinched.

"Um…guys?" Dawn interrupted shyly.

"WHAT!" They both yelled.

"Ahh…the bell just went…we should probably get to class."

May flushed a deep red when it occurred to her that she had just screamed at two complete strangers.

"Oh, sorry, she said, more to Dawn than Drew. I suppose you guys need showing around. You're new right?"

Drew scoffed loudly, "No we don't. Thanks though," he added the last part with a sarcastic glare.

Dawn looked at him disapprovingly before smiling at May, "Ah no actually we've gone to this school since year 7. Thanks for the offer though May." She turned to walk away, with Drew close behind until they heard May speak up again.

"Seriously? That's impossible I've never seen you before in my entire life."

"Yeah of course you haven't. But we know who you are so why don't you run back to your precious group of friends March." Drew seemed particularly annoyed by this point.

"Oh…" May trailed off embarrassed, "Well I'm so sorry. What are your names?"

"I'm Dawn, that's Drew," Dawn grinned and May had the sudden urge to grin too. Dawn's smile was just infectious.

"Well I know we got off on the wrong foot," she glared at Drew mid-sentence, "but it really is nice to meet you guys. Anyway we'd better get to homeroom. I'll see you guys round?"

They nodded and watched May walk off in the opposite direction in the hall.

"Well that was interesting." Dawn said wondering why Drew had given May such a hard time.

"Yeah. She is unbelievable, who does she think she is being so careless and clumsy and not even bothering to apologise."

Dawn frowned, "I'm sure she would have apologised. Maybe she was just surprised."

"Why do you always have to see the best in people." It wasn't a question, more of a statement as Drew smiled slightly and shook his head. Truthfully, he wished he was more like Dawn in that respect.

They walked into home room late, with no one but their teacher even giving them a second glance.

"Well, nice to see things are back to normal again," Drew joked.

Dawn laughed too, "Yeah, I don't know why I thought that things might be different this year."

* * *

Dawn walked into literature with the intention of sitting and drawing while listening to the class discussion about Pride and Prejudice.

After sitting down, bringing out her sketch book and turning to a blank page, she started to draw what she could see outside the window. It was a beautiful morning, with the glorious sun shining down through the window. It was making her tired, yet keeping her nice and warm.

She was just finishing the outline of the skyline when her teacher, Ms Shirona started the class.

The discussion of themes from the book had been going on for 20 minutes, by which time Dawn had nearly completed her grey lead drawing. She was just doing some shading when she heard someone in the class speak up.

"Pride and Prejudice was nothing more than a cliché where they guy gets the girl. Personally I really don't get all the fuss about it."

Ms Shirona was about to respond when she heard a rather loud, unattractive scoff come from Dawn. She raised an eyebrow, as the entire class looked at her with disbelief. _No one_ had the audacity to challenge Paul out of fear they'd ruin their chances at being friends with him or dating him.

Dawn wondered why everyone was so silent and looked up from her drawing, noticing every single person in the room staring at her.

"What?" She asked quietly, never in a million years did she think her whole class would even realise she existed.

"Dawn," Ms Shirona began with her eyebrows raised and an amused smile crossing her face, "Would you like to say something in response to Paul's comment?"

Dawn's mouth gaped slightly as she looked glanced slightly at Paul who was staring at her intently.

"Well," she paused as she arranged the words in her head, "Pride and Prejudice is no cliché. In fact that's the entire point, yeah the guy gets the girl but it's not conventional at all. She is a smart, independent woman which was unheard of in those days. And that's the reason he falls for her to begin with, because yeah he is proud and yet she can match his wits, his intelligence and most of all, give him a the challenge he is searching for."

"So you don't think women in other stories are as intelligent? Because they are. That's why it's a cliché. The stubborn, rich guy falling for the poor, smart girl is in almost every story I've ever read." Paul responded quickly and softly, he wasn't much of a talker.

"I'm saying that it was unheard of for that time. Not to mention, the reason why this is different from the usual cliché story is because they recognise their faults, apologise for them at the end and set aside their differences to become something more. It certainly wasn't a marriage of convenience like most marriages were back then. They challenged everything that "love" stood for back in that time and married not for money, or social standing, but for true, deep, impenetrable love."

By this point the entire class was watching with intrigue as Dawn talked back to Paul. If Paul was surprised that Dawn was giving him a run for his money, he didn't show it. If anything it looked like he might have been enjoying it.

"Yeah but those challenges that they have to overcome are what makes it so typical. No reader wants to see a straight out happy ending; the most controversial stories are considered the greatest love stories of all time. Think Romeo and Juliet, or the Titanic or—"

"Or the Notebook," Dawn added, her arms folding over her chest and a smirk growing on her face. It was rare that she had anyone to banter with other than Drew, who didn't enjoy books like she did.

"I see what you're saying, and you're right, no one really wants a happy ending. They just want to want a happy ending. The tragedy is what keeps people wanting more. However, Mr Darcy is so torn between what is expected of him and what he wants that he makes a lot of mistakes along the way. I think it's the way he and Elizabeth overcome their mistakes that sets Pride and Prejudice aside from the rest."

"Okay, okay Paul, Dawn that's enough," Ms Shirona interrupted, "that is quite possibly one of the best debates over Pride and Prejudice I've ever seen. However class is almost over. I'd like you all to start you're essays on the way of life in the 1800s where the book was set. Due next Tuesday, dismissed."

Dawn was disappointed that their discussion had ended so soon, but smiled at Ms Shirona none the less as she could see the blonde haired woman looking at her with a twinkle in her eye. It wasn't common for students to put in too much effort in their school as many of them had a large trust fund to get them into university.

After grabbing her books she walked towards the class door when Paul, who was in front of her turned and held the door open for her after he was nearly through the door. With a sideways glance at her he walked off silently.

Dawn could have fainted. Not only had he talked to her in class, but he looked at her. He _actually looked _at her_. _

"Get a grip Dawn," she muttered to herself as she began to walk in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, Ursula, a girl who had always bullied Dawn, apparently being the only person who ever noticed her, was waiting for her.

"Oops," She said as she knocked Dawn's books to the floor. She laughed loudly and high fived one of her 'evil minions' Brianna before walking off.

Dawn sighed as she bent down to pick up her books. Gathering them all and standing back up, she took off to find Drew. Luckily it was lunchtime.

* * *

Drew was sitting playing random melodies on his acoustic guitar when Dawn found him.

Grinning, she practically skipped over and sat down next to him. Opening her lunch, a large contained full of fruit, she squealed, "Drew!"

He winced, "Dawn I'm right here. No need to scream so loudly."

"I know, but I am having _the_ best day. Paul actually talked to me! He knows I exist! And he's smart and has good taste in books!"

Dawn proceeded to tell him the entire story, not missing any details of the way he had looked at her and challenged her and held the door open for her slightly.

"Wow, I actually never thought I'd see the day." He looked thoughtful for a few moments as a grim look crossed his face and he looked seriously at Dawn, "I don't want you to get your hopes up okay? I don't want you to get hurt if he doesn't talk to you again."

Dawn nodded, "You're right. He probably won't even take a second glance at me next time."

At the sad look on her face, Drew sighed, "Or maybe he'll think you're awesome, because you are. Any guy would be lucky to have you."

This greatly improved her mood as she squealed once again, popping a grape into her mouth.

"Maybe this year won't be so bad after all," Dawn mused.

They spent the rest of lunch throwing grapes at each other and laughing when the other couldn't catch one in their mouth.

* * *

Dawn had never been in a better mood when she walked in to homeroom the next day. Her and Drew took their seats in the corner of the room and were chatting quickly about their previous night's NBA match.

"Oh please, you lost Drew, you're going to have to start coming to terms with it," Dawn teased as Drew frowned.

"I let you win, and that's that." He said crossing his arms.

Dawn watched as Drew's mouth formed a small O shape.

"What?" She asked? "Is there something on my face?" she began brushing her hand over her face lightly.

"No, um…Paul just walked in. And I swear he looked over here."

Dawn's face immediately formed a grin and she resisted the sudden urge to squeal loudly.

At that point the bell rang and she sighed as the said goodbye to Drew and walked off to her first and second period double music class.

"Alright class, I am happy for you to have private music study this morning as unfortunately your normal teacher is away today," A relatively young teacher with long, pink hair said firmly, "I'll be coming around to help you as best as I can."

Dawn took out her notebook as she thought about what she wanted to do for her compulsory senior music project which would be coming up in a few weeks to allow the music programme teachers to evaluate each student. The performance would be in front of a teacher only. Each class member would have to perform multiple times throughout the year with a piece of music that reflected something important to them.

Dawn had already decided to write a song, and she would be allowed to have Drew play the music as he was in the other music class.

She hummed lightly to herself and closed her eyes, letting the inspiration hit her. Suddenly she found the inspiration and began furiously scribbling down words in her notebook.

Towards the end of the two hours, Dawn looked over what she had written in front of her and smiled. The page was covered with words, and there were many sentences and single words crossed out and written over.

It was far from finished but she liked it so far. She couldn't wait to show Drew at lunch time what she had come up with.

* * *

Before lunch, Dawn found herself arriving ridiculously early to science and surprised to see that Drew was already there sitting in their spot.

"Hey," she chirped, "I spent all morning working on a new song and I can't wait to show you!"

"Awesome," he said, "I just had the most boring history class."

"Hey guys," the two looked up from their conversation to find May standing next to their table with a huge smile plastered across her face.

They both exchanged a glance before starting up conversation with the girl.

"We were just talking about our classes. Senior year is getting harder don't you think _September?_" It was Drew who spoke, but he offered a small smile at the last part to show May he was just teasing her. Secretly, he was impressed that she had risked her social standing just to come and say hi to them.

She glared at him but couldn't help a smile tugging at the edges of her lips, "Yes Grasshead, it's getting harder. That's what's supposed to happen you get older, you also get smarter…at least some of us do…"

Drew smirked and began to argue back whilst Dawn tuned out. She slowly glanced over to where May's table of friends were sitting to find Paul looking over at her. She blushed and immediately leaned forward to hide behind Drew where Paul wouldn't have a clear view of her.

"Yeah well at least I look where I'm going," Drew said arrogantly, flipping his hair.

May fumed, "When are you going to let that go!"

Dawn decided it was time to intervene before they got too loud and started drawing attention.

"Guys, the class is about to start," She said, sweat dropping when they both turned on her.

Once they realised she was right, May blushed, "Oh, right…well I guess I'll just see you guys later then," she turned awkwardly and walked away to her table.

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day where we'd be friends with May Maple," Drew said blankly, as if she still believed it to not be possible.

Dawn laughed; it was weird for her to see Drew get along with another girl. She briefly wondered if Drew found her attractive and if that was the reason he was picking arguments with her.

She smiled to herself at the possibility of Drew and May dating, "I dunno, I quite like her."

Drew groaned and they stopped talking as the teacher began to go through the answers to their Bio quiz from a few days before.

Dawn wasn't paying much attention though as she decided to take one last glance at Paul. He was looking down at his paper, scribbling extended answers onto his sheet. She noticed he seemed to be working pretty hard in the two classes they had together and wondered if he was as involved in his other classes as he was in literature.

Focusing back on her own paper she sighed contently, things could only keep getting better from here.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey guys, just a quick note. I am fully committed to this story and it will get finished. Usually I'm quick at updating (mostly) but I just started a new job so it's been taking me a little while to get around to writing. Anyway, the point is it will be finished! Enjoy.**_

* * *

Dawn walked down the halls to science class for the third time that week. She was excited for today as they would get to begin their partner projects, dissecting rats.

As she entered, she noticed most of the class were already there. Walking past the table where Paul sat, she turned her head to allow her hair to cover her eyes and the side of her face. She had been noticing Paul looking at her much more often and as much as she loved the attention, she felt quite shy towards him.

"Finally," said Drew, who was turning his pen over in his fingers whilst staring out the window.

"Hey, sorry, I didn't think I was that late. I'm a little nervous about today's practical class to be honest. Cutting something open that was once alive...it just doesn't sit right with me," she shuddered slightly at the thought.

Drew flicked his hair and smirked, "Well that's why you're lucky I'll be your partner."

Dawn grinned, she knew he would be her partner anyway but just hearing the confirmation made her happy.

They both looked up as they heard their teacher walk into the class.

"Now class, we will be dissecting rats today in pairs. I would like you all to pair up with someone the same gender. I will be coming around to help and answer any questions you may have."

Groans were heard throughout the class but the teacher, a bald man with a beard, was not listening anymore as he was focused on some papers at his desk.

Drew looked at a deflated Dawn, "Hey, it'll be okay. I'm sure there'll be people who will be left over too for us."

Dawn nodded with tears shining in her eyes. She hated not being able to pair up with Drew. It wasn't like she had any other friends, and neither did he. Why couldn't the teachers just leave them to themselves so that they wouldn't have to be miserable and alone.

"Hey guys," The two looked up to see a grinning May dragging a slightly reluctant Paul towards them.

"Hey May," Dawn said, utter dejection shining through her voice.

"What's wrong with Dawn?" She said, looking at Drew expectantly.

"Oh, don't mind her, we just have to find partners now because we can't go together."

"I know, that's why I came over, Dawn I was wondering if you wanted to be my partner?"

Dawn's jaw dropped, "What?"

"Do you want to be my partner?" May asked again, a little confused as to why Dawn looked so surprised.

"Um, yeah I would love that, May."

"Great!" May practically screamed, "Oh and um, Drew, Paul doesn't have a partner either so I was thinking the two of you could partner up?" She looked at them both expectantly.

Drew didn't respond immediately, and looked to Paul for confirmation.

"Sure, if you want man," Paul said quietly.

Drew smirked, "yeah, sounds good, we'll do much better at dissecting a rat than these two anyway."

Paul returned the smirk and gave a quick nod to May as they walked over to another table.

"Hey! We heard that!" May yelled to their retreating backs before sighing.

"I'm not very good with…dead things…" Dawn said; eyeing the rat they had been given cautiously.

May smiled, "Well it's your lucky day Dawn! I happen to be great with dissecting things. It's just fascinating."

Dawn laughed and the two began to work together, with May doing the practical dissection and Dawn taking detailed experiment notes.

* * *

Drew had just finished extracting the rat's spleen when he noticed Paul watching him intently.

"What?" He asked, giving him a questioning look.

Paul paused for a while with his lips pursed in a line.

"What's the deal with you and May?" His arms were folded as he looked seriously at Drew. He was over half a head taller than the emerald haired boy.

Drew stopped what he was doing as he too folded his arms and looked the taller boy dead in the eyes.

"Nothing at all."

"Fine, lie to me then. But if you do anything to hurt her you will have to answer to me, and it will be painful."

Drew smirked, "Okay big shot, how about you explain to me what you think you're doing with Dawn then. Because if I find out that you've hurt her, _you'll_ have to answer to _me_."

There was silence as the two sized each other up. What they didn't notice was that the two girls in question were watching from afar. Although they couldn't hear what was being exchanged, you couldn't cut the tension with a knife.

After a few minutes Paul smirked and relaxed his arms, with Drew following suit.

"Well alright then," Drew said as he offered Paul his hand.

Paul shook his hand firmly and both boys smirked as they went back to working on their project.

Across the room, May and Dawn were more confused than ever.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" Dawn asked nervously. She had never seen Drew like that before. She wondered if the two boys didn't like each other. It had only been half an hour, surely they couldn't hate each other already.

Dawn was secretly hoping that Drew and Paul would get along, she just didn't think she could have feelings for anyone who had a problem with Drew, or that Drew had a problem with.

Saddened, she looked towards May who was fidgeting.

"You okay May?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, fine. Let's keep going."

Dawn nodded reluctantly as she watched the girl make another incision towards the lower half of the rat. Trying not to let her uneasy stomach get the best of her, she went back to her notepad, trying to concentrate on not throwing up.

By the end of class, the girls had successfully finished the dissection and write up which would be handed in that day. Dawn was relieved for it to be over, grateful that she would never have to do such a gruesome project at school again, considering it was the only one for the year.

"Well that was interesting," May said as they sat down for the last 10 minutes of class.

"Yeah…that's one way to put it," Dawn said as she remembered how sick she had felt all lesson.

"Hey how'd you guys go?" May asked the two approaching boys slowly, like she was really asking what all the tension was about earlier.

They glanced at each other and smirked, "we went well," Paul said as he gave May a pointed look, resulting in a great big grin from her as she realised that two were getting along.

"It was easy," Drew said as he nudged Dawn.

"We know, we finished before you guys thanks to Dawn's excellent write up skills."

"Oh please, you say that as though you guys are smarter than us. Everyone knows guys are better than girls."

May leaned forward to retaliate which left Paul and Dawn standing awkwardly near each other.

Dawn watched him, she had never been this close to him before. She noticed that his deep onyx eyes were very mysterious up close.

All of a sudden his eyes met hers and she found herself blushing as she tried to hide behind her hair. He had just caught her staring at him.

She took a chance to glance at him again and noticed he was still looking at her. His mouth opened, it looked like he was about to say something until the bell rang.

Dawn watched him close his mouth, letting out a small breath as he slowly turned to walk away.

She frowned, she had had her opportunity to talk to him and she blew it. She was just too nervous to talk to him. How had she done it in class before?

Mentally cursing herself she picked up her books and noticed Drew laughing loudly as a furious May stormed off.

"I don't even want to know," Dawn said to him as he went to tell her what happened.

"Oh please, I'm sure you'd love to hear about how fun it is to annoy her."

Dawn smiled slightly, she was sure he liked her. But she knew that Drew would just put his guard up if she made him realise that he had a crush so instead she decided to leave it alone.

"So?"

Drew looked up at her, "So what?"

"So what was it like working on a project with Paul?"

"It was fine."

"That's it?" Dawn suddenly felt disappointed; she really couldn't take it if they didn't get along. "So you don't like him?"

"Well I never said that. He doesn't seem to be much of a talker, but he seems cool."

"Okay, then what was with tense atmosphere about half an hour in; May saw it too. I thought you guys were going to fight or something."

"It was nothing," Drew said seriously.

Dawn frowned, "but we tell each other everything."

"Dawn, I promise it's just guy stuff. Nothing bad, nothing that I'm hiding from you, just guy stuff."

She smiled, letting out a relieved sigh as she spoke, "Well, in that case I'm really excited for you to have a guy friend. And for me to have a girl friend, it's just a refreshing change don't you think?"

For once Drew let out a sincere smile, "Yeah. It's not so bad at all."

Dawn grinned, before letting out a high pitched squeal, "I cannot believe you two get along. I'm so relieved!"

Drew just rolled his eyes and smirked, wondering how she could always be excited…but about everything.

* * *

"Mum! I'm home!" Dawn called out as she walked through her front door, putting her bag down near the entry.

"I'm in here!"

Dawn followed her mother's voice to the back of their house, wondering what she was doing back there. Coming around the corner, she found her mum surrounded by various boxes of photos.

"What are you doing?"

Johanna ran a hand through her short, navy hair as she looked up at her daughter, "Well I just thought I'd look through some old albums. The plan started with me packing them away and well now I'm sitting here flicking through them all."

Dawn pursed her lips, it looked as if her mum had been doing a bit of crying. Sighing, she took a seat on the floor across from her mum and started looking at some of the photos in front of them.

"Wow," she whispered as she looked at a photo that had been taken five years previous, "I remember this day."

Johanna smiled fondly, "your father insisted on taking us for ice cream even though it was snowing outside."

Dawn carefully caressed the edges of the photo with her fingers, as though it was the most precious thing in the world. Her twelve year old self was standing with a bright pink rain jacket on with matching snow boots. She was grinning widely with a chocolate double scoop ice cream cone in her hands. Her father, a tall man with black, tidy hair, was leaning down holding his ice cream next to Dawn's.

"And he wouldn't take no for an answer," Dawn laughed, shaking her head slightly. "I remember I woke up a few days later with a horrible cold. It was worth it though."

Johanna nodded and a comfortable silence fell across them as they remembered the day.

"It was only a few weeks before…" Dawn trailed off and she looked at her mum to see her expression falling.

"Yeah…"

"I miss him so much. It's weird, even now I still think he's going to walk through that door with his great big grin insisting we all go on another adventure to the ice cream shop," Dawn said sadly.

"It was so long ago, but at the same time it feels like just yesterday."

They both sat in silence for a few moments before Johanna continued.

"You know he'd be so proud of you Dawn. All your accomplishments, your grades, your creativity, even your choice in friends. He always really liked Drew, you know."

Dawn pursed her lips as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Yeah, I know he did. Thanks mum," Dawn whispered, refusing to let her tears fall out of her eyes.

Johanna couldn't help it though as she pulled Dawn over into a hug whilst trying not to kneel on any of the photos. After leaning back she wiped her eyes and smiled brightly at Dawn to try and lighten the mood.

"So how was school today?"

"Well, I told you Drew and I made a new friend. Her name is May. And she is best friends with Paul you know."

Johanna squealed, much like her daughter often did, "Oh my Dawn's first boyfriend! How exciting!"

"Mum! He probably doesn't even know my name, I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself. But he did look my way a few times. He even had to partner with Drew in science."

Johanna frowned, "Oh honey, I'm so sorry. Who did you have to partner with?"

For the first time ever being asked about not partnering Drew, Dawn smiled, "Well actually, May asked me to be her partner."

The older woman had such a sincere expression on her face that Dawn thought her mother was going to cry. Luckily, she didn't but she looked absolutely thrilled that things were starting to get easier for Dawn; even if only a little bit.

"This May girl seems to be very nice. I love that you are able to surround yourself with such genuine people. It's a good quality to have."

"Well I did learn from the best," Dawn said with a sly grin and a raised brow.

Giving her a condescending scoff Johanna waved her hand dismissively, "yes, yes well I think this calls for celebration anyway. Steaks tonight?"

They both gossiped all the way into the kitchen, excited for a nice, hot dinner.


End file.
